What is happening in the market?

Over the last few years, more and more businesses have realized that sustainability is more than just an increasingly efficient marketing and communication tool. It can also help to gain competitive advantage, increase a company’s market share, and boost shareholder value. Therefore, the business community has started to develop and implement strategies and tools that can be used to translate sustainability goals and ideas into concrete and effective solutions. Mainly businesses that rely heavily on the Earth’s natural resources every day have been trying to conduct their actions more and more sustainably to secure their resources and raw materials and therefore their business case.

In the following just a few, selected examples on how nowadays businesses translate their sustainability goals into programs, action plans and goals are given. Please note that most information was taken from the website of respective company.

Walmart:
Walmart mentions three broad environmental goals on its website: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. Mid October 2010, Walmart sent 15 Sustainability Supplier Assessment Questions to its main suppliers. Goal was to get an insight into their current sustainability practises as well as their future strategies. Walmart gives preference to suppliers that are committed to sustainability and have solid strategies. Besides, Walmart hired around 400 soil scientists to help improve soil quality and fertility. By doing so, Walmart invests into its resources and raw material security and therefore in its business case.

Marks & Spencer :
Marks & Spencer started its “Plan A” campaign in 2007 (Plan A consists of 100 commitments to change the way Marks & Spencer works by 2012). At the heart of Plan A are the 5 pillars of Climate Change, Waste, Sustainable Raw Materials, Fair Partner, and Health.
Together with Marks & Spencer, Soil & More assessed the carbon footprint of farmers of the Kenyan Tea Development association (KTDA) and developed small composting sites. Their yields had decreased from 1, 4 kg tea per tea bush to 1 kg tea per tea bush. Through an improved crop residue and biomass management, the yields gradually increased to 1, 3 kg product per tea bush within two years only – even though the application of fertilizer had slowly been decreased. Through a regular compost application, productivity and water holding capacity are very likely to considerably improve in the (near) future.
On a product level, Soil & More carried out carbon footprints of tea from Kenya and India as well as coffee from Peru and Nicaragua for Marks & Spencer.

Unilever:
Unilever launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in November 2010. Their plan is to halve the environmental footprint of their products, help more than 1 billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, and source 100% of their agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Unilever decided to invest into new farming land in Eastern Europe in order to secure their resources and raw material. Soil & More was asked to conduct feasibility studies for composting and soil carbon balance in that area.

Ben & Jerry’s:
Ben & Jerry’s decided to make its ice products climate neutral through own emission reduction projects that they want to develop jointly with their Fairtrade suppliers within their own supply chain through reforestation and composting. 

PepsiCo:
in 2009, PepsiCo announced 15 global goals and commitments to guide their work to protect the Earth’s natural resources through innovation and more efficient use of land, energy, water and packaging in their operations. They are focusing their work where they think they can make the most positive impact (water, packaging, climate change and agriculture) and on key policies and partnerships to help provide solutions to address the world’s environmental challenges.